The Fair Labor Standards Act generally allows youth who are 16 and 17 years old to work in any occupation, so long as the occupation has not been deemed particularly hazardous or detrimental to youth health or welfare. However, there is an exception to this general rule for some hazardous occupations when the youth participate in a qualified apprenticeship or student-learner program, both of which are discussed below. The hazardous occupations subject to this exception include:

Student-learners

For the exception for student learners to apply to 16 and 17 year old youth, the student learner program must meet the following criteria:

the youth must be enrolled in a course of study and training in a cooperative vocational training program under a recognized State or local educational authority or in a course of study in a substantially similar program conducted by a private school and;

the youth is employed under a written agreement which provides that:

the particularly hazardous work performed by the student-learner is incidental to his training;

the particularly hazardous work is intermittent and for short periods of time;

the particularly hazardous work is performed under the direct and close supervision of a qualified and experienced person;

safety instructions will be given by the school and correlated by the employer with on-the-job training; and

a schedule of organized and progressive work processes to be performed by the youth on the job have been prepared.

The student-learner written agreement must contain the name of student-learner, and be signed by the employer and the school coordinator or principal. Both the school and the employer must keep copies of agreements from each youth participating in the student-learner program. The student-learner exception may be revoked in any individual situation where it is found that reasonable precautions have not been observed for the safety of the enrolled minors. A high school graduate may be employed in an occupation in which he has completed training as provided in this paragraph as a student-learner, even though he is not yet 18 years of age. 29 CFR 570.50(c)